Northwest rebellion

The Northwest Rebellion was a major event in Canadian history and still affects the lives of first nations today. Before the events that lead up to the Red River Resistance even started, the majority of the land was controlled not by the British but instead by the fur traders that belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The company traded throughout that area, called Rupert's Land and had complete control of commerce. This allowed the company to eliminate competition and with the exception of the Northwest Company to the east, the Hudson's Bay Company had control of most of the trade in Canada. However, to fulfil Macdonald’s dream of a sea-to-sea nation Rupert’s land, without any consultation with the Metis, he purchased Rupert's Land for $1.5 million. This triggered a series of events that starts with the Red River Resistance and ends with the Bill of Rights.

The first major political and military event that led to the Northwest Rebellion was the Red River Resistance. In 1869, the territory of Rupert's Land was being transferred from the control of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) to become part of Canada after a deal between the HBC and the Canadian government. However, this was problematic for the Metis who lived in the Red River Colony as they feared for their rights, culture, land, and what would happen to it under Canadian rule. To protect them, Louis Riel and his supporters formed a provisional government to protect the rights of the Metis people. Later that year, however, Riel was scared that the Canadian government was arming itself to take control of Red River as well as to dissolve the provisional government. Due to this, Riel decided that it would be better to strike first and sent a party of armed Metis to arrest John Schultz as well as 48 of his supporters, afterwards holding them in Upper Fort Garry. One of the captured men called Thomas Scott was especially troublesome. He had a deep hate for Riel and spent much of his time in the cell throwing insults at the guards as well as threatening to kill Riel once he got out. The patience of the guards eventually thinned and convinced Riel to put him on trial for treason. Scott was found guilty and was sentenced to death by firing squad. This execution though at the time seemed like a good idea, later down the road caused many headaches for Riel. The Red River Resistance was a key reason why the Northwest Rebellion occurred because of this execution. It caused lots of uproar among the white population, and they even put bounties on Riel's head. The execution, in the end, did more harm than good for Riel and the Metis as it created a tense environment that set up a base for the events that led up to the Northwest Rebellion as well as the Northwest Rebellion itself to occur. Had Scott not been killed, the Metis would have likely had an easier time negotiating with Macdonald and received a better deal in the Manitoba Act.

The political and military event called the Manitoba Act was another of the leading causes of the Northwest Rebellion. The Manitoba Act which was based on the Metis List of Rights proved Riel and his provisional government of their influence on the government. It would also include points that seemed to protect Metis rights as well as 556,580 hectares of promised land for the Metis on top of their existing property. However, to keep the "peace" as a result of the Red River Resistance, Canadian troops mostly militia were sent to prevent resistance. Unfortunately for the Metis, the militia was not concerned with keeping the peace and instead were seeking revenge for the execution of Thomas Scott, committing murder that though was not officially permitted the acts were never punished. Matters worse because the Metis were unfamiliar with how European society worked with the laws, money, and scrips many land speculators took advantage of this confusion. They purchased scrips from the Metis for a lot less than what they were worth. As a result of this, many Metis left Manitoba to move further Northwest to recreate the way of life they enjoyed in Red River. This was a reason why the Northwest Rebellion occurred because all the great things that government appealed to the Metis to get them to move to Manitoba really in the end just made them mad. The government promised rights and protection, however, in the end, the Metis were abused by the militia. The government promised land and money, however in the end land speculators ripped them off and the Metis got very little from the scrips. Had the government helped the Metis settle in more smoothly, they could have stayed in Manitoba, and everyone would have been happy.

Another political, as well as economic event that led to the Northwest Rebellion, was the treaties signed by the natives. The Canadian government at the time wanted to open the Prairies to European and Canadian settlers. To do this, they were eager to arrange treaties with the natives as it would avoid any Indian wars that could be very troublesome. The treaties promise gifts, money, and land. They would also provide farming supplies as well as instructions to help the natives grow food. This deal was a decent offer in the eyes of the natives, especially the promise of food during times of famine, however, still they were very divided on the issue. Some argued that the land was theirs and the white man had no right to it. Others argued the treaties "was their only hope" and would stand no chance if they were to resist the white man. In the end, most of the Chiefs did sign the treaties believing they did so "as equal nations". However, very quickly they realised that is not true. Much of promised help in the treaties often proved inadequate if they ever showed up at all. Farming instructions were terrible, tools were unusable, farming animals were incompetent. Sending a quick message to the natives that the government expected the natives to fail at farming and did not really care about them. By the turn of the century, the natives were starving, and many were dying of hunger. Described by one Winnipeg reporter to have witnessed "...fifty or more ghastly corpses dangling from limbs of the trees." at one reserve during the wake of spring. This was a cause of the Northwest Rebellion because the treaties more or less told the natives they did not care and wanted them to die. For obvious reasons, made the natives very mad and gave them many reasons to rebel. Had the government followed through with the treaties the natives, for one would not have starved to death and two could have given the natives reasons instead why to be happy with the government.

One of the most important military and political events that led to the Northwest Rebellion was the creation of the CPR railway. The CPR railway was created to help join the provinces of Canada together as well as to fulfil the promise of a railway made to British Columbia when they joined Confederation. This rail was built by Allan's Canadian Pacific Railway Company whose track was planned by the CPR syndicate and ended up being a very costly expenditure for the Canadian government. The track originally was going to follow Sandford Fleming's surveyed route. However, the syndicate wanted control of the train stations and town in which the track passed through. It was decided amongst them to move the track 300 kilometres south to solve this problem. Construction would then start in 1881 and finishing in 1885, six years ahead of schedule. However, as the cost of the railway rose, the government slashed the budget of the Indian Affairs department to save money, leaving most of the Metis close to starvation. If this was not problematic enough for Macdonald, there were people in Canada who questioned Macdonald’s railway. To deal with this, Macdonald planned that if he let Riel go around and "make trouble", he could send troops in by rail to deal with it. This would prove to the citizens of Canada about the importance of the rail. So with this Magistrate Lawrence Clarke was sent in by Macdonald to start rumours among the Metis and get Riel to "make trouble". One of the lies he told very likely could have been what started the Northwest Rebellion. The lie began with Clarke being sent to Ottawa as what Riel thought would be a good representative to discuss another petition as a follow-up to the Bill of Rights. When he came back, he lied to Riel saying 500 North West Mounted Police were on their way to arrest Riel. This led to the Northwest Rebellion because through this lie; Riel thought he had no choice left. He likely thought he was left with the choice to either surrender and be arrested or fight. Since we know the Northwest Rebellion occurred and Riel fought, Riel ended up just walking straight into Macdonald's plan of starting the Northwest Rebellion.

The last major political event that led to the Northwest Rebellion was the Metis Bill of Rights. When Louis Riel returned to lead the Metis he set up a provisional government. He and this government created a petition that contained all of their demands, named the “Metis List of Rights”. However, in Ottawa, the Macdonald government showed no interest in the petition and ignored it. In the Northwest, Riel became more and more impatient waiting for a government response. By March 1885, he decided he could wait no longer and declares violence on the government. Suggesting that "justice commands us to take up arms." He was able to rally the support of the Metis and some first nations parties. On the other hand, he loses the support of the settlers and the Catholic church as they are not willing to go that far as forcing the government to help them. This evidence displays that there was a possibility that the government could have avoided the Northwest Rebellion even in the end. If the government had acknowledged receiving the petition the crisis could have been avoided. The Bill of Rights was the government’s last chance to regain the trust of the Metis but instead ignored it. The ignored Bill of Rights, as well as the lie Clarke told, sparked the beginning of the Northwest Rebellion.

In conclusion, due to the events that occurred from the Red River Resistance to the Bill of Rights the Metis rebelled in the Northwest Rebellion. Over the course of the events that led up to the Rebellion, the Metis become more and more annoyed with the government. Not getting enough food, expected not to succeed at farming, etc. Every single event, the Red River Resistance, Manitoba Act, treaties, CPR Railway, Bill of Rights, all thinned the patience of the Metis more and more. Leading to the start of the Northwest Rebellion.

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